President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal would bar Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving federal funds that help pay for health-care services for millions of Americans.
Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called Trump’s proposal “the worst budget for women and women’s health in a generation.”
“It singles out Planned Parenthood, guts programs designed to help women and their families put food on the table, get the medical care they need, and make ends meet,” Laguens said in a statement. “From day one, women’s health has been squarely in the crosshairs of this administration. … If passed, this budget would undo decades of progress for women when it comes to their ability to access health care, to pursue their career and education goals, and to lead safe, productive lives.”
Planned Parenthood and others were already excluded from using federal dollars to pay for most abortion services, except in instances of rape or incest or in situations in which a woman’s life is in danger. That is spelled out in the Hyde Amendment, which Congress approved in 1976 and has renewed each year. In a letter to antiabortion rights leaders during his presidential campaign, Trump criticized Hillary Clinton for wanting to repeal it and promised to make it “permanent law to protect taxpayers from having to pay for abortions.”
The House of Representatives passed a health-care bill earlier this month that, if enacted, would temporarily ban Planned Parenthood from participating in the Medicaid program. But Trump’s budget proposal would ensure that none of the federal funding from the Labor-HHS appropriations bill could go to the women’s health organization.
Leading up to the budget proposal, more than 60 human rights and women’s rights groups signed an open letter expressing concern that it would “strip away basic support for struggling families, reduce access to vital care and services, and disproportionately harm the health and well-being of people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, religious minorities, and low-income women and families.”
But antiabortion leader Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, applauded the budget proposal.
“From day one, President Trump has worked to keep his pro-life promises, including stopping taxpayers from being forced to fund abortion and abortion businesses. We’re encouraged to see that the budget released today prevents federal funds from going to the nation’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood,” she said in a statement. “Taxpayers should not have to prop up Planned Parenthood’s failing, abortion-centered business model.”
Trump’s proposal still must be approved by Congress. The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
An earlier version of this story included a statement from the Gates Foundation that was in reference to international and not domestic family planning. The post has since been updated.
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